I did it. I ran my first marathon.
Last month, my little sister and I ran the Jackson River Scenic Trail Marathon together.
We trained for 6 months, we ran almost 400 miles, and I listened to 7 audiobooks while running.
Here are the top 3 audiobooks I read while training for my first marathon. (Thank you to the Libby app and my libraries, Massanutten Regional Library and Augusta County Library!) Star ratings and reviews below, which are also up on my account on The StoryGraph.
Let me know what other audiobooks I should read because—announcement!—I’m about to start training for my second marathon, the Richmond Marathon. Wish me luck!
1. The God of the Woods
By Liz Moore, Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
From the New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River, an immersive, propulsive novel about a missing child whose disappearance sends equal shockwaves through three very different worlds — an opulent Adirondack summer estate, the rustic teen summer camp that operates in its shadow, and the blue-collar community that serves them both.
When Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her summer camp bunk one morning in August 1975, it triggers a panicked, terrified search. Losing a camper is a horrific tragedy under any circumstances, but Barbara isn’t just any camper; she’s the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp — as well as the opulent nearby estate and most of the land in sight. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared in this region: Barbara’s older brother also went missing fourteen years ago, never to be found. How could this have happened yet again?
Out of this gripping beginning, Liz Moore weaves a richly textured drama, both emotionally nuanced and propelled by a double-barreled mystery. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded drama brings readers into the hearts of characters whose lives are forever changed by this eventful summer.
Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet, The God of the Woods is a story of love, inheritance, identity, and second chances, a thrillingly layered drama about the tensions between a family and a community, and a history of secrets that will not let any of them go.
Review:
★★★★★
Despite having read the synopsis, this book wasn’t what I expected. My brain initially saw the pink blood dripping on the cover and hoped this had paranormal or demonic elements. It didn’t. But that didn’t deter the grip this book had on me. This beautifully written, mysterious drama set at a summer camp focuses on its many characters rather than quick plot points. The story confronts classism, socioeconomic disparity, gender roles, and bias, and will have you analyzing its flawed characters from beginning to end. The audiobook powered a couple of my long runs!
2. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
By Kristin Kobes Du Mez
A scholar of American Christianity presents a seventy-five-year history of evangelicalism that identifies the forces that have turned Donald Trump into a hero of the Religious Right.
How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate’s staunchest supporters? These are among the questions acclaimed historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez asks in Jesus and John Wayne, which explains how white evangelicals have brought us to our fractured political moment.
Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last 75 years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. Evangelical popular culture is teeming with muscular heroes – mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.
A much-needed reexamination, Jesus and John Wayne explains why evangelicals have rallied behind the least-Christian president in American history and how they have transformed their faith in the process, with enduring consequences for all of us.
Review:
★★★★★
As someone who grew up and still lives in the Bible Belt, who attended feet washings, who owned a head covering, who was baptized 3 times, who listened to Hillsong UNITED and Amy Grant and MercyMe and Michael W. Smith and Switchfoot, who went to a “Heaven’s Gates & Hell’s Flames” performance, who attended church summer camp and Vacation Bible School, who read Soul Surfer and the Christy Miller series and the Left Behind series, this book affirmed the religious environment I grew up in and the trauma that led to my own religious deconstruction.
For a specific example, the audiobook almost made me stop running when the narrator said, “[Evangelicals] learned about purity before they learned about sex” because true. I was taught abstinence but never learned about sex. Or consent. I was taught that, as a girl, I was inherently sinful and would tempt men to lust. I was taught to cover up. To wear one piece bathing suits. (I’d totally recommend this book to Emma, the main character in my second book Hooking Up, which is set at a church summer camp.)
I plan to buy the physical book so I can annotate it. This book articulates and demonstrates how politics and religion and human rights, despite the separation of church and state in our constitution, are and have always been intertwined. How religion has been weaponized in politics to gain voters, influence policy, and justify actions—like now with unjust deportation and inhumane detention. If you’ve ever asked, How did we get here? or How could Christians vote for Trump when he’s the antithesis of Jesus’ teachings?, read this book.
3. The Truth About Immigration
By Zeke Hernandez
The go-to book on immigration: fact-based, comprehensive, and nonpartisan.
Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the United States and everywhere else. Pundits, politicians, and the public usually depict immigrants as either villains or victims. The villain narrative is that immigrants pose a threat—to our economy because they steal our jobs; our way of life because they change our culture; and to our safety and laws because of their criminality. The victim argument tells us that immigrants are needy outsiders—the poor, huddled masses whom we must help at our own cost if necessary. But the data clearly debunks both narratives. From jobs, investment, and innovation to cultural vitality and national security, more immigration has an overwhelmingly positive impact on everything that makes a society successful.
In The Truth About Immigration, Wharton professor Zeke Hernandez draws from nearly 20 years of research to answer all the big questions about immigration. He combines moving personal stories with rigorous research to offer an accessible, apolitical, and evidence-based look at how newcomers affect our local communities and our nation. You’ll learn about the overlooked impact of immigrants on investment and job creation; realize how much we take for granted the novel technologies, products, and businesses newcomers create; get the facts straight about perennial concerns like jobs, crime, and undocumented immigrants; and gain new perspectives on misunderstood issues such as the border, taxes, and assimilation.
Most books making a case for immigration tell you that immigration is good for immigrants. This book is all about how newcomers benefit you, your community, and your country. Skeptics fear that newcomers compete economically with locals because of their similarities and fail to socially assimilate because of their differences. You’ll see that it’s exactly the opposite: newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities. Destined to become the go-to book on one of the most important issues of our time, this book turns fear into hope by proving a simple truth: immigrants are essential for economically prosperous and socially vibrant nations.
Review:
★★★★
Read my review in a previous reading wrap-up post:
Comment with your audiobook recommendations that I should read on my longs runs leading up to my second marathon!
Morgan Vega 
[…] Top 3 Audiobooks I Read While Training for My First Marathon […]
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